Sewer-cleaning apparatus.



J. W. STOLKRANTZ. SEWER GLEANING APPARATUS. APPLIUATION FILED JUNI: a, 1909.

965,249. Patented July 26, 1910.

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J. W. STOLKRANTZ. SEWER CLEANING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 8, 190B. 965,249., Patented July 26, 1910.

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nr n s'rns rr TOI-IN W. STOLKRANTZ, OF JAMESTOWN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF T0 REESE T. HARRIS, 0F BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

SEWER-CLEANING APPARATUS.

Specification of.Letters Patent.

Patented July 26, 1910.

Application led June 8, 1909. Serial No. 500,869.

To all whom 'it 'may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN W. STOLKRANTZ, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Jamestown, in the county of Chautauqua cleaning sewers and other under ground` conduits and has the object to produce a comparatively simple and inexpensive apparatus whereby sewers and the like may be quickly and thoroughly cleaned by the use of few operatives.

In the accompanying drawings consisting of 2 sheets: Figure l is a vertical longitudinal section of a sewer equipped with my improved cleaning apparatus. Figs. 2 and 3 are vertical transverse sections of the same in the correspondingly numbered lines in Fig. l.l Fig. 4 is a side elevation on an enlarged scale, of one form of bucket or scoop used in my improved sewer cleaning apparatus. Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 6 is a top plan view thereof. Fig. 7 is a vertical longitudinal section showing another form of bucket or scoop which maybe used in my improved sewer cleaning apparatus.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

A represents `a horizontal sewer or 4underground conduit and B, B1 the manholes eX-v tending at intervals from the sewer to the surface of the ground in the usual and well known manner. i

C represents a bucket or scoop whereby the sediment or accumulation in the sewer is shoveled or picked up and dumped on the ground above the sewer. This bucket is open at its front end and closed at its rear end, its top and bottom and at its opposite sides and is adapted to move idly downwardly through'the manhole and horizontally backward through the sewer with its closed rearend in the lead until it reaches the position where the scooping operation is to begin. Upon reaching this rearmost position the bucket moves forward and scoops or digs up a load of dirt from the sewer, the load being shoveled from lthe upper part of the accumulated dirt or sediment in the sewer by the front end c of the lower side of the bucket which is preferably sharpened for this purpose and deflected downwardly slightly, so as to facilitate engagement of the bucket with the dirt, as shown in Fig. 5. The backward movement of the bucket is produced by a back pull line D which is connected with an eye d at the rear end of the bucket and extends from thence backwardly through the sewer and upwardly around a guide roller or sheave e prefer- 'ably arranged below manhole B1 in rear of the sewer section which is being cleaned, thence forwardly through the sewer and upwardly around an upper guide pulley or sheave F arranged below the manhole B which is arranged at the front end of the sewer section which is being cleaned, thence upwardly through the front manhole and over a hoisting pulley or sheave g which is supported above the manhole by means of a horse H or other support extending over the manhole, and thence laterally to the backing drum I of ahoisting machine arranged on the surface ofthe ground adjacent to the front manhole.

The forward movement of the bucket is produced by a load pull line D1 which is connected by means of a hook Z1 with a bail K pivoted on opposite side walls of the bucket at the front end thereof and passes thence forwardly through the sewer and upwardly around a lower guide roller or sheave F1 arranged below the upper sheave F, thence upwardly through the front manhole and over a guide pulley or sheave g1 on the horse H and thence laterally to the loading drum Il of the hoisting machine.

The rear sheave or pulley e may be supported in any suitable manner but preferably by the means shown in Figs. l and 3 and which comprise two uprights Z extending from the bottom of the sewer through the rear manhole to the' surface of the ground and engaging with the front side of this manhole and provided with bearings in which the rear sheave c is j ournaled, and a frame L resting on the ground and secured to the. upper ends of the uprights for holding the latter in place.

The front guide sheaves'or rollers F, F1 are preferably journaled at their opposite ends on two uprights M, M which extend 4from the bottom of the sewer upwardly through the front manhole to the surface of the ground where they are secured to a frame m which rests on the ground and holdslthe uprights M in place. Upward movement of the front uprights M under the pull of the load pull and back pull lines is prevented by stop blocks n secured to the front uprights and engaging with the roof of the sewer at the front manhole.

Upon winding the back pull line on the back pull drum and unwinding the load pull line from the load pull drum the bucket is moved downwardly through the front manhole and backwardly t-hrough the sewer until it reaches the rear manhole. The hoisting machine is now operated to cause the load pull line to be wound upon the load pull drum and the back pull line to unwind from the back pull drum, thereby causing the bucket to be hauled over the dirt in the sewer and scoop up a charge of the same. After the bucket has picked up a load from the sewer it passes upwardly around the lower guide sheave F1 and through the front manhole until it is above the surface of the ground. Upon reaching this position the load pull line is slackened and the rear end of the bucket is elevated, thereby tipping t-he open end of the bucket downwardly and causing the contents thereof to be dumped on the ground on one side of the front manhole. The rear end of the bucket is raised in the manner described for discharging the contents of the same by means of a dump line o which is adapted to be connect-ed at one end by a hook 01 with the eye at the rear end of the bucket while its other end is wound on a dumping drum P of the hoisting machine and its intermediate part passes around a guide roller or sheave p on the horse H. After the load of the bucket has been thus dumped the dump line is again detached from the bucket and the latter is hauled backwardly through the sewer preparatory to scooping up the next load, this operation being repeated until all the dirt in the sewer has been removed.

The bail of the bucket is provided with a central opening g and two openings g1, g1 on opposite sides of the central opening into any one of which the hook Z1 of the load pull line may be engaged. When the hook Z1 engages the central opening g the bucket is drawn forwardly in a straight position and is caused to scoop up the sediment in the center of the sewer but when the hook (Z1 is engaged with either of the side openings g1 the bucket is deflected with its front end toward one side during its forward movement and thus scrape the sediment from one side or the other of the sewer. By thus engafring the hook Z1 successively with the ci erent openings of the bail the bucket can be so directed that all arts of the sewer are reached and thorouglily cleaned of its sediment.

The ends of the bail are pivoted on transverse bolts 1' each of which is secured at its inner end to the adjacent side wall of the bucket while its outer end is secured to a strap R arranged lengthwise of the bucket and secured to the latter but separated therefrom by intervening space blocks r1 arranged in rear of the pivot bolt r and at the rear end of the bucket.

In order to enable the bucket to be pulled more easily over the contents of the sewer the same is provided on its. underside near its rear end with a transverse supporting roller s which is journaled at opposite ends in hangers s1 secured to opposite sides of the bucket. To avoid entangling the back pull line with the bucket the latter is provided on Vthe rear part of its upper side with a guide sheave or pulley t with the underside of which the back pull line engages and whereby the latter is prevented from getting foul of the bucket.

In very large sewers or in case of sewers which are not stuffed fully the several walls of the bucket may be made immovable relatively to each other, as shown in Fig. 7. But when the sewer is small or has been checked up badly the bucket is preferably made of upper and lower sections, so that it collapses while being moved backwardly and can thus be pulled through a compara# tively small passage Way but expands during its forward movement and thus permits of scooping up a large load of the sediment. An eXpansible or collapsible bucket of this character is shown in Figs. l, 4, 5 and 6 and has its top wall pivoted at u to upper end of the back wall while its side walls each consist of two overlapping wall sections v, o1, the upper one o being connected with the top of the bucket while the lower one o1 is connected with the bottom of the bucket. i

As the bucket moves backwardly the upper and lower parts of the same fold together and thus reduce the cross sectional area of the same so that it is possible to draw the same through a comparatively small passage-way, this being particularly desirable when starting the cleaning of a sewer which has been almost completely filled up. As the bucket moves forward the sediment scooped up expands the parts of the bucket which expansion is limited by a stop device consisting preferably of a pair of toggle links fw, 'w1 arranged on each side of the bucket, the links of each pair having the opposing ends pivotally connected while their upper and lower ends are pivoted respectively to the outer side of the upper and lower side wall sections. The expansion movement of the upper and lower parts of the buckets is limited by means of stops w2 arranged on the sides of the bucket adjacent to each pair of toggles links and in such position that the latter engage the stops before the links are in their -fully straightened position or on a dead center line, thereby perinitting the top and bottom 'of thel bucket to collapse when external pressure is applied to the same.

The walls of the bucket are preferably provided with perforations m so as t0 permit the surplus water picked up by the scoop or bucket to escape therefrom before the latter is hoisted to the surface.

For the purpose of shutting od the gas from that section of the sewer in which the workmen are engaged in cleaning dampers y, 'J1 are extended downwardly across the upper part of the sewer at the rear side of the rear manhole and at the front side of the front manhole, as shown in Fig. l, thereby enabling the operatives to work with safety and without endangering their health.

It is of course understood that when one section of the sewer has been cleaned in the manner described the apparatus is shifted for cleaning successive sections in like manner.

I claim as my invention:

l. A bucket for cleaning sew'ers &c., comprising upper and lower body sections which are pivotally connected at their rear ends,

and means for limiting the separation of said sect-ions comprising a pair of toggle links which have their inner ends pivotally connected while their outer ends are pivoted respectively to said body sections.

2. A sewer cleaning apparatus comprising a bucket having a lower section composed of a bottom, rear wall and side walls and an upper section composed of a top pivoted at its rear end to the rear w'all to swing vertically and two side walls overlapping the side walls of the lower section, and means for limiting the separation of said sections, comprising two pairs of toggle-links, the members of each pair being pivotally connected at their opposing ends while their opposite ends are pivoted respectively to the adjacent side walls of the upper and lower sections, and a stop for arresting the movement of said links before they reach the dead center.

Witness my hand this 22 day of May, 1909.

JOHN W. STOLKRANTZ.

Witnesses:

C. J. POTTER, R. E. MILLER. 

